Five Dishes We’ve Been Digging Around Town

February 13, 2014

We’re not even gonna talk about this weather anymore — at this point, we’re so sick of being snowbound that we simply refuse to be, well, snowbound. We’re going out and eating, come (frozen) hell or high water. If you’re in our (admittedly very cold) boat, consider defying the storm with one of the dishes we’ve recently encountered and dug.

Arroz Negro at El Colmado, Gotham West Market, 600 Eleventh Avenue, 212-582-7948
Seamus Mullen’s tapas counter offers one of the more ambitious experiences at food-court-of-the-future Gotham West Market, and it’s also a favorite after-hours spot for market workers whose shifts end before El Colmado’s 11 p.m. closing time. One dish we can’t stop eating is the chef’s dense, buttery update of the classic Catalan arroz negro. In addition to the standard cuttlefish and squid ink, Mullen’s version includes creamy tongues of sea urchin and cubes of avocado for added richness. Heady and broodingly dark, the heady mound of rice is best eaten with a glass of bone dry Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana manzanilla sherry, conveniently served on tap. –Zachary Feldman

Smoked Wok Tossed Chicken With Roasted Chili, Chili, Chili at Land of Plenty, 204 East 58th Street, 212-308-8788
We’ve professed love for the dumplings and dan dan noodles at Land of Plenty before, but there’s magic here beyond the appetizer section, too. At a recent feast, the standout dish was the smoked wok tossed chicken, whose crisp bits of poultry were tossed with tingly Szechuan peppercorns and fiery red chilies. You’ll find the same set-up matched to frog and tilapia if bird isn’t really your thing. –Laura Shunk

Lamb Neck at Dekalb, 564 Dekalb Avenue, Brooklyn, 347-857-7097
This is a lamb worth braving the G train for. At the newly opened Dekalb Restaurant just off Bedford Avenue in Bed-Stuy, chef Alexander Skarlinski braises the rich, fatty cut of meat for hours until it’s melt-in-your-mouth soft and just a little musky, then serves it over a creamy root vegetable ragout with a feathery fried kale leaf and a crisp banana cracker. –Hannah Palmer Egan

Laura Shunk

Gingerbread IC Sandwich at The Clam, 420 Hudson Street, 212-242-8420
After you wend your way through a number of worthy clam-imbued dishes at this new restaurant in the West Village (chef and owner Mike Price recommends the spaghetti, and we concur), you might be tempted to skip dessert. That would be a grave error. We’ve seen creative takes on the ice cream sandwich before, but this mash-up of spicy gingerbread cookie and tart creme fraiche ice cream blew our minds right out of our heads. Especially good for people who don’t like their last courses to be sickly sweet. –Laura Shunk